Yeey! I’ve finally made it! On Monday I had my graduation ceremony and I officially became a certified computer scientist. I didn’t realise it until a friend told me this. I have all the reasons in the world to still feel like a student, since I’ll start my MSc in 2 months. And that will be a true challenge. Imagine my happiness in a year from now, graduating from my MSc, knowing that I’m done with all my academic preparation.

I have been extremely lucky to enjoy an amazing graduation day, with my family close and every dear person congratulating me. I truly felt like a princess! It’s been a packed day, running around from one place to another, but I’d do it again anytime.

After receiving my First Class Honours degree, my University offered me the prestigious Chancellor’s Prize. Only 24 out of around 4,000 students graduating this year, receive this honour. I tried to find out the exact criteria for receiving this amazing prize, but I’ve been told students from each Faculty are nominated based on their overall grades and performance and a few are then selected. I wish I could have went to the ceremony for this prize on the 13th, but I was lucky to receive it while in Huddersfield on Monday.

The Computing and Engineering faculty also offered me my second prize on the day, for the best overall performance on the Final Year project in Computing and Information Systems. This means my hard work for my dissertation truly paid off. Honestly, working on my final year project was the part I loved the most about my last year as a bachelor. I wanted to pick a subject that I would be passionate about for an entire academic year and it turns out I was a bit too passionate. But in a good way, of course! I am also happy I had the chance to pick up one of the hard copies of my final year project, so that I can keep it as a memory.

It’s been 4 years that passed reaaally quickly, but during these years I managed to grow as an individual, both personally and professionally, make amazing friends, have wonderful experiences and decide what I want to do in life. I am proud I am graduating and I have a clear idea on what I want to do, I am proud of my achievements and I am excited about the future. I am a hopeless optimist, so I’ll continue keeping my expectations high, working hard and seeking amazing opportunities!

Now I’m on to my next adventure, the Masters degree at UCL in London, a year that I am sure will be full of interesting stories and learnings!